Fires in Stourbridge: 19 Homes Destroyed Accidentally
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Stourbridge fires that razed 19 homes accidental
Image source: Reuters
Image caption: The Stourbridge fires were started accidentally, according to West Midlands Fire Service.
By Elliot Ball
West Midlands
Published: 26 August 2026, 14:54 BST
Updated: 4 minutes ago
Two fires that destroyed 19 homes in Stourbridge were started accidentally in fields where farming machinery was in use, according to West Midlands Fire Service.
Investigators established farming equipment was being used in the vicinity of fields immediately before the fires were first reported. The first fire started in a field near Racecourse Lane at about 13:27 BST on 13 August, while a second began shortly afterwards in a field near Quarry Park Road.
Chief Fire Officer Simon Tuhill said so many people had been affected the service wanted to confirm both fires were not started deliberately. They were accidental, he said.
As well as the properties that were completely destroyed, a further 18 were damaged as the flames spread rapidly through grass and woodland. The incident in Stourbridge happened on the UK's hottest day of the year as temperatures peaked at 38.1C in some parts of the country, according to the Met Office.
Several other fires were reported in the West Midlands on the same day as a total of 54 patients were treated by paramedics and 19 were taken to hospital. Other incidents saw about a dozen homes lost in Birmingham, four in Stoke-on-Trent, three in Pershore, Worcestershire, and three in Willenhall, near Wolverhampton. The causes of most are still under investigation, although it was confirmed a barbecue started the one in Stoke on Trent.
Mike Davis, who was evacuated from his home in Stourbridge with his family, said they were told by police to leave and did not know whether their home would still be standing when they returned.
"It was a hell of a scene... thick smoke and just something I've never seen before," he said.
Tuhill added he was proud of the fire service response, plus that of colleagues in the police, ambulance, and local farming community. "The response to this incident showed the very best of Stourbridge and the wider West Midlands."